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๐บ ASHTAVAKRA GITA๐บ
๐ฟChapter - 2๐ฟ
~ The Five Principles ~
๐ฑ Day - 8 ๐ฑ
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เคฎुเค्เคคिเคฎिเค्เคเคธि เคेเคค्เคคाเคค
Ashtavakra said that if Janaka really desired liberation and freedom, they are achieved only after a certain degree of awakening. One gets tired of habits. Alcoholics are so tired of alcohol. It does not make them any better but they feel bound by it. It's very fortunate if this very desire has arisen. Know that you are eligible. You are chosen one. If even the slightest desire to be free has arisen in you, you should pat yourself on back, you are very lucky. Billions of lives on this planet don't have this blessing. They do not even live. They exist, die and dissolve. They are not bored. Even of they are bored, they're bored about something very small. A little change can make them very comfortable again. So, blessed are those who get bored!
Amidst the many billions of lives on this planet, it's very rare and precious to have a human birth. There is only one human among so many billions of creatures. This is very valuable. And in human birth, it's very valuable and precious if you get bored with your habits, routines and patterns, and you want to be free. You are very, very fortunate! And even if this desire ( wanting to get rid of sorrow and get out of their frustration) is there in people, to get an opportunity to be in the company of an Ashtavakra is even more difficult. The presence of Ashtavakra- one who has crossed the frontier of bondage - is still more difficult.
เคฎुเค्เคคिเคฎिเค्เคเคธि เคेเคค्เคคाเคค เคตिเคทเคฏाเคจ् เคตिเคทเคตเคค्เคค्เคฏเค ।
What binds you? The five senses. Your taste is number one. If there is no salt in your food you should see the expression on the faces of so many people! Lunch time will be really entertaining. Some people like spicy food and some people don't like it. A small thing like taste binds you. You are used to definite type of food, and if it isn't there, it is enough to upset you and push your panic buttons. Taste has bound you; the craving for taste e.g. eating ice cream. If you don't have it, you dream about it and eat it in your dream. What is happening in the different rooms [kutirs] of the ashram? People are dreaming about pizzas! It is very strange, very funny, but interesting! It is the same thing with musicians. They are used to music; playing tapes day and night. Music, music, music..They are addicted to that music.
I remember one gentleman who was so fond of Karnatic music that he would drive in the car and sing. When he visited anybody, he would start singing while entering the gate. People would raise their eyebrows. He would sing from early morning till night. At eleven o'clock at night the radio broadcasts end. People forget to switch off and go to sleep with the radio on. Many do this and suddenly wake up in the middle of the night - two or three o'clock - to the radio making static sounds. They are so much addicted to music, whether Karnatic, Hindustani or anything else. The music is not elevating them to an ecstasy, or giving them joy but is just a sort of addiction. It is the same thing with smell. You wear perfumes. Now a person who wears a perfume does not smell it after a while, but others can smell it. People put on balms such as eucalyptus and they do not get the smell for long; just for a few minutes. But when others come for meditation or pranayam and are near such a person, they feel that he applies all sorts of things on his body; that he smells!
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji
ASHTAVAKRA GITA
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